Hong Kong’s May Chow, voted Asia’s best female chef, talks about her culinary journey

May Chow rolls up in a taxi to her restaurant, Little Bao, on Staunton Street, more than 30 minutes after we were scheduled to meet. I ask her jokingly if she’s suddenly turned into a princess, keeping the commoners waiting, but she’s full of apologies, saying the traffic was really bad.

Yesterday, it was announced that Chow was voted Asia’s Best Female Chef 2017 by more than 300 globetrotting chefs, restaurateurs, food lovers, journalists and bloggers within the region, who also nominate the places that make it onto the annual Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the results of which will be announced in Bangkok in February. (This writer is the A50 Best academy chair for the region of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.)

Chow is best known for, well, the little baos she serves at Little Bao – steamed buns that resemble anaemic hamburgers. But instead of having a minced beef patty inside, Chow’s baos are filled with vivid, flavourful combinations that include slow-braised pork belly with shiso red onion salad and sesame dressing, and Szechuan fried chicken with Chinese black vinegar glaze.

What she dishes up at the no-reservations restaurant, where diners queue up to perch on the tall, backless stools around the open kitchen, and where the most expensive menu item is HK$148, is a far cry from the fine-dining cuisine served by the past winners of the award. They include Vicky Lau of Tate Dining on Elgin Street, Lanshu Chen of Le Mout in Taiwan, and the 2016 winner, Margarita Fores, of Grace Park and Lusso, in the Philippines.

Chow was informed that she’d won back in November, but had to keep quiet until yesterday. “Someone from the 50 Best team called and told me, then they kind of consoled me. They said ‘Are you ready for this?’ They said there’s the option if you want to accept or decline. The award comes with a lot of responsibilities. There are only so many female chefs in Asia. Being awarded best female chef, a lot of people in the industry say, ‘Is it good or bad?’ You have to consider that – is it a positive thing for affirmative action, or is it ‘Why is there a special award [for females]? Why shouldn’t they be in the same category as other chefs [for the 50 Best list]?’ I see it as a positive thing, and I understand what they’re trying to do and the reason they have this award.”

Chow briefly considered declining, she says. “I was thinking, ‘No, why me?’ I was like that at first. I’ve never been an awards-driven person, I never won anything, really, until this year. They say ‘With great power comes great responsibility’, but it’s more like, are you ready for the responsibility that is to come? What are you supposed to do, how do you act in representing women in this context?”